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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

'Beat Bobby Flay' Pilot Airs Saturday Night On Food Network

Photo - Food Network

Beat Bobby Flay, which can be described as a new version of Throwdown, is scheduled to have its pilot episode air Saturday night at 9:00pm on the Food Network. It will replay at midnight, and again on Tuesday August 27th at 11pm and 2am, but that may be it (Edit - another one Sat., Aug 31st, 4:30 ET). So if you want to check it out, make sure to tune in at one of these times or set your DVR. It is only a half hour long and is sandwiched between, you guessed it, countless reruns of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

In order to beat Bobby Flay, you have to get to him first. This new
series is the ultimate throwdown-showdown…. Three culinary masters, each
with their own signature dish, a dish that they’d stake their
reputations on, travel to New York for the chance to challenge Bobby
Flay to a head-to-head cook-off of their specialty. But first, these
contenders must battle it out to see who has the culinary prowess to
ultimately go one-on-one against Bobby on his own turf. Produced by Rock
Shrimp for Food Network

The description of the show on the Food Network site has been changed a bit, and it reveals a bit more about the show.

It looks like Jeff Mauro and Alex Guarnaschelli will be the judges on the show, and they will judge the initial battle to see who gets to face Bobby Flay. I am not sure if they are judges only for the pilot or if they will be judges for every show (assuming the show gets picked up). Also, it looks like they went from having three chefs compete to having two chefs compete. The description now states:

Two talented chefs go head to head for the chance to Beat Bobby
Flay. To get to Bobby the chefs must first face off against each other,
creating a spectacular dish with a secret ingredient of Bobby's choice.
Judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Jeff Mauro know Bobby's strengths and his
weaknesses. Their goal: pick the chef who has the skills to take down
Bobby Flay in his own arena. The winning chef gets to challenge Bobby
with their surprise signature dish. If they win, they can tell the
world, "I beat Bobby Flay!"

You would think the Food Network would try it out in a better time slot. Also, I am surprised they didn't green light a whole season and only shot a pilot episode.

25 comments:

You'd think, given how many times Bobby got his butt handed to him on a platter during Throwdown, that they wouldn't go this route a second time. And Jeff Mauro as a judge of real, non-sandwich food??? Someone at FN is getting really desperate...

Every Food Network personality has a niche/comfort zone according to the show they host: Giada=Italian, Bobby=Grilling, Ina Garten=Stylish High Class Cuisine, Pioneer Woman=Southern. Jeff just happens to host a show about sandwiches. That doesn’t mean he can’t cook or judge on a different kind of show.

I’ve read Jeff’s bio and he graduated from The Kitchen Academy in Hollywood (now part of Le Cordon Blue), worked at restaurants and co-owned delis with family members so, it doesn’t appear to me that he was just an entertainer who won a reality show, then thrown into the lion’s den of hosting a cooking show.

And sadly, FN pushed him into a sandwich corner and doesn't seem to want to let him out. Hence his two Chopped All Stars appearances, in which he consistently made sandwiches of the basket ingredients.

I liked it. I hope they make more. It's sort of an Iron Chef Throwdown with Bobby picking the secret ingredient for the two competing chefs, then Bobby having to make the winning chef's signature dish for the final throwdown. Nice twist. And I'm cool with Alex and Jeff. I like them both and it's fun seeing them trying to take Bobby down. This plays on Bobby's strengths well. I'm thinking it's a keeper.

So—did we all recognize Sara from Top Chef: Texas? She's the one who wasn't Heather. She's lost a lot of weight and lightened her hair, and she seems to have gone for a personality makeover as well, but she still brought back some very unpleasant memories for me.

I get the impression that Jeff is there in an effort to allow him to break the Sandwich King mold and expand his culinary expertise and the public's perception of it. He seems to be Food Network's most marketable personality since Guy Fieri, and he comes across as far less obnoxious.

Don't get me wrong ok, I'm a big Bobby fan, no doubt. And yes I get that y'all have ratings....BUT we as the real human race know that he wins rarely!!!!(to say it nicely) I get it, he wants us to watch....but we aren't dumb. I watched yet another episode tonight. Rigged. I'm very disappointed as a fan Really. No, won't stop watching but very, I know better. BoB is an iron chef for a reason. Duh. He can win sometimes. Don't b unrealistic. I'm loose all respect. Js